Russia’s election commission on Monday formally registered President Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the March presidential election, a vote in which he’s all but certain to win another six-year term in office.
Putin, 71, is running as an independent, but he retains tight control over Russia’s political system that he has established during 24 years in power. With prominent critics who could challenge him either jailed or living abroad and most independent media banned, his re-election in the March 15-17 presidential vote looks all but assured.
In 2018, Putin also ran as an independent, snubbing the United Russia party that nominated him to run in 2012. With his approval ratings hovering around 80 percent, Putin is far more popular than United Russia, which is widely seen as a part of the Kremlin-controlled state bureaucracy rather than a political force.
Ah, so it wasn’t just me. I understand written English, but those headlines always hit me. Full of metaphors and strange* locutions. I feel like I should be utterly shocked by the title but I can’t even get what it is stating.